Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mask, an exposure apparatus that exposes a substrate, and a device manufacturing method.
Description of Related Art
Among exposure apparatuses that are used in photolithographic processing, as is described in the patent documents such as Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. H07-153672 A, H08-213305 A, and 2006-093318 A, an exposure apparatus is known that exposes a substrate using a circular cylinder-shaped or circular column-shaped mask.
It is necessary to precisely adjust the positional relationship between the mask and the substrate not only when a plate-shaped mask is used, but also when a substrate is exposed using a circular cylinder-shaped or circular column-shaped mask. If the positional relationship between the mask and the substrate cannot be precisely adjusted, or if there is a change in the positional relationship between the mask and the substrate because of vibration or the like, there is a strong possibility that it will not be possible to properly expose the substrate using an image of the pattern on the mask.
Moreover, when, for example, a substrate is exposed while it being moved in synchronization with the movement of a mask, in order to properly expose the substrate, after the acceleration of the mask and/or substrate has ended, it is necessary in some cases to provide a wait time (i.e., a static time) for any generated vibration to settle down and for the speed to become constant. In cases such as these, if there are frequent changes in the movement direction of the mask and/or the movement direction of the substrate, then the acceleration action increases by the same extent, so that it becomes necessary for an extended static time to be provided. In this case, the time that cannot be used for exposure becomes even longer so that there is a possibility that throughput will be reduced. In order to limit any deterioration in throughput, it is desirable for the number changes in the movement directions of the mask and/or substrate to be kept as few as possible, and for any vibration that occurs to be allowed to rapidly settle.
A purpose of some aspects of the present invention is to provide a mask that makes it possible to suppress any decrease in throughout and to form a superior image of a pattern on a substrate. Another purpose is to provide an exposure apparatus and a device manufacturing method that make it possible to suppress any decrease in throughput and to properly expose a substrate using an image of a pattern.